I am amazed at the number of Americans who do not want to be bothered with what politicians are doing, supposedly with their approval.

One of my earliest memories is listening as my parents tuned in to hear the war news from our radio, powered by a wind-charger. We sat closely together beside the radio because static was a problem.

Hardly more than a toddler when World War II began for the U.S. with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, I easily picked up on the tension, the concern of the grown-ups. Within weeks, six of my uncles would join or be drafted to serve.

I remember, too, that the family gathered around the radio to listen when the political conventions were in session. Again, I picked up the idea that this is something important, that I should pay attention.

And I do, but I am amazed at the number of Americans who do not want to be bothered with what politicians are doing, supposedly with their approval.

Parents, by what they deem important, do shape their children more than they realize. As an elementary student, I was surprised to find that many of my contemporaries knew nothing about the political process.

When my brother was going through treatment for a bone marrow transplant to fight the leukemia that was to later claim his life, he asked us to bring a CD of hymns, especially the ones our mother used to sing as she went about her daily work.

For a time, he had distanced himself from the heritage represented by those hymns. His faith resurfaced in later years; thus it was no surprise to me that the old hymns we learned as children were a comfort during his illness.

Our parents were seldom “preaching” to us about religion or about politics, but in their daily lives we experienced the evidence of their convictions — the kindness with which they regarded their fellowman, the urgency with which they regarded their duty as good citizens.

My brothers and I reflect much of that which our parents believed and practiced. In many ways life has been easier for us than for our parents, but their core beliefs have withstood the test of time and circumstance.

Not so long ago, I attended a memorial service in which a man had written his own service and appointed a friend to read it.

He addressed kind remarks to the people who had been close to him over the years, including his grown children. What really struck me was his apology for failing to take the children to church.

He had not practiced his faith when they were growing up, and as he contemplated the end of his life, he wanted them to know that faith is important. He deeply regretted that the time and opportunity had passed for him to make that kind of contribution to their lives.

My brother said something similar to me about realizing he hadn’t given his children the advantage of faith as demonstrated by our parents because it wasn’t until later in life that he had realized its importance to him.

Sometimes we say that parents do the best they can, but that is not always the case. Most of us can recall and regret times when we failed to order our priorities properly. If we have forgotten, we can look at the priorities of our grown children and grandchildren.

Fortunately, some of them do better than we did.

BETH PRATT retired as religion editor from the Avalanche-Journal after 25 years. You can email her at beth.pratt@cheerful.com.